The Shinigami's Gift
by ookami567
Summary: After seeing Naruto's heart remain pure even with the villagers' hatred, the Shinigami decides to give him a gift, but only if he passes a test. Will Naruto pass the test, and if he does, what will his gift be?
1. The Test and a Gift

**A.N. I read a few fics like this, but there aren't a lot, so I decided to make my own! Hope you like it!**

It was dark and cold in young Naruto's apartment. If you can even call it an apartment. Naruto was currently hiding in his closet shivering and whimpering in fear. Today was October 10th the day of the infamous kyuubi attack. It had been 5 years since that terrible day, where so many shinobi died, including Konoha's greatest leader, the Yondaime Hokage.

On this day civilians and shinobi alike release all their grief and sorrow by forming mobs and beating up the 'kyuubi kid' as they called him. Naruto was abused quite often, but usually got out with only minor cuts and bruises, however, October 10th was always much worse. Ever since he could remember, his birthday was spent getting beaten till he lost conciousness and then waking up in the hospital. No matter how much he hid or ran, they always managed to find him. The only people to have ever shown the 5 year old kindness were old man Hokage, Teuchi, and Ayame. But they could do nothing to help him now, for the Hokage was to busy and the Ichiraku team were only civilians.

'Why do they hate me? I haven't done anything wrong have?' He heard the door to his apartment slam open.

'Maybe they're all just sad. They just need an outlet for they're sadness.'

Naruto had a kind heart. Even though they hurt him, call him names, and make him feel terrible about himself, he still wasn't angry at them. Not only was he kind, but he was also quite intelligent for someone so young. All his experiences made him wise beyond his years.

They villagers found him, and began they're evil deeds. There were even a couple of chunnin and jounin in the crowd. Punches, kicks, kunais, and shruiken all came at the poor boy. He welcomed unconciousness with open arms, for it was a way to get away from the pain. Silent tears fell down his face, but no one cared.

'It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry...' His eyes closed and a half an hour later, the mob got bored and left. Most likely to drown their sorrow in sake.

**Somewhere far away**

The Shinigami was a powerful being. He could control death and many would think he enjoyed his power. However, the Shinigami often got bored, he had no goals, he didn't need any more power, there were no evil beings that needed to be punished, there simply wasn't anything to do.

So, to get rid of his boredom, he watched humans and sometimes even meddled with there affairs. The Shinigami's favorite human happened to be none other than the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. His reasons were simply because he thought differently compared to the rest of the humans and he even succeeded in sealing a biju. Almost no one would sacrifice their own life for another person. Yes, Namikaze Minato was interesting indeed. But what interested him the most, was the fact that he sealed the kyuubi into his son not once thinking that nobody would treat the jinchuuriki as a hero.

"He put to much faith in those pathetic people and now his son has to deal with it. But, the boy does interest me. I guess all the Namikazes are like this. Even though those people hurt him he forgives them and even pities them."

"Such a pure soul should be rewarded, and besides, this should definitely be entertaining." With his decision made the Shinigami sent for his personal messenger.

"Eva-san, could you please come here."

A pitch black portal appeared and out stepped a young looking girl. She looked to be 14 with long black hair tied in a ponytail with a crimson ribbon. She had cold blue eyes and a pale complexion. She wore black clothes as well. Though she may appear young, the Shinigami's messenger, named Eva, was almost as old as he was.

"Hai, Shinigami-sama."

"I wish to test Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. To see if he's worthy of a guardian. You know what to do correct?"

"Hai."

She bowed and stepped through another portal.

**Konoha**

Naruto awoke in the hospital. He was quite familiar with this routine, having done it quite a few times. The only difference was that this time, the hokage was there as well.

"Oji-san! What are you doing here." The Sandaime chuckled and walked over to the bed. But his laughter faded and he put on a serious face.

"Naruto, I'm terribly sorry about not getting there in time. I wish I could have helped, but some of the chunnin were distracting me."

'What's even worse was they did it on purpose!' He thought angerly in his head.

"It's fine, they lost a lot of loved ones, so I guess they hate the fact that I was born during the attack."

"No Naruto! Nothing is your fault, the villagers are just being silly! I promise this won't happen again."

Naruto smiled and nodded, but inside he knew those words weren't true. The Sandaime couldn't watch over him every second of everyday.

The Hokage smiled and left the room. As soon as he did a nurse came in glared at him, and told him to get out. Naruto complied silently and walked over to his trashed apartment.

He spent the rest of the day reading the books the Sandaime had given him and when night fell, he went to sleep.

Eva appeared in Naruto's apartment and walked over to his sleeping form. She put one finger on his forehead and forced his spirit out of his body.

The spirit Naruto awoke and looked at her with fear.

'Oh no! Not again!' He closed his eyes and waited for the pain.

"Child, I am not here to hurt you. I was sent by my master to test you."

"Test me? What do you mean?" He looke up at her curiously.

"My master, the Shinigami, has seen your pure heart. He has taken a liking to you and as such will grant you a gift, that is, if you pass the test."

"The Shinigami! Does he want to kill me!"

"Of course not, I just said he's taken a liking to you didn't I."

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry, it's just that the Shinigami has always struck me as being evil and mean."

"He simply hates humans. I myself do too, but there are a few that he does like."

"Well I guess I'll take your test but, what's the gift?"

"You will gain a guardian to help you and talk to you."

"So you mean I'll get a friend?"

"I suppose you could call it that." She said with a little amusement hidden on her normally emotionless face.

'This boy is indeed interesting. I can see why Shinigami-sama chose him.'

"Alright! I'll take this test!"

"Very well. Hold on to me and I shall take you to the Shinigami's realm."

He grabbed onto her and they left through a portal, leaving Naruto's physical body behind. They arrived in a dark, creepy place. And sure enough sitting in a chair was the Shinigami.

"Hello child. Are you ready for your test." He smirked. **(I don't think the shinigami would actually smile.)**

"Hai!" Naruto answered, determination shown on his face.

'If I pass, I'll get to have a friend!'

"This test will take place inside my stomach, Eva will go with you to explain what to do. Good luck."

Before Naruto could fully digest the thought of going inside the Shinigami's stomach he and Eva were already being suck in.

"Ahhhhhhhhh"

**Shinigami's Stomach**

'Well this isn't what I expected.'

The stomach was completley white and looked to be deserted.

'Wow, no evil monsters or gross stomach goop.'

Though he was mature for his age, Naruto was still a child in some aspects.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Eva's voice.

"Your test is simple. When we begin hundreds of monsters that reside in the Shinigami's stomach will awaken. Your guardian is one of these monsters. The guardian is the only one residing in here that hasn't been consumed by the darkness. Many creatures that end up here are evil and turn in to monsters, but your guardian's soul remained pure. However, this didn't stop the darkness from surrounding his soul. His soul is asleep and the darkness took over. If you are able to find him, the Shinigami will awaken it and allow you two to leave and live peacefully on earth. If you choose the wrong though, you will lose your chance to gain a guardian and will be sent back to Konoha."

"Do you understand."

Naruto was a little nervous, but was still determined.

'I refuse to lose my chance to gain a friend.'

"Hai, I understand."

"Then we shall begin."

Suddenly, hundreds of monsters appeard. All of them were black and evil looking with red eyes. Many took the form of a person causing them to look like shadows, but one giant monster stood in the center. It was at least 5 times the height of a normal person with demon-like red eyes, and spiky looking hair coming from the head.

Naruto was about to go to one of the more normal looking ones, but something stopped him.

'Oji-san once told me, that though some people may look evil, there is always the chance that they are one of the kindest people you may ever meet. I wonder...' He walked over to the giant monster held out his hand.

"Hello mister, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Eva laughed and smiled. 'Looks like we got a winner.'

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun. You guessed correctly."

All the monsters disappeared except the big one. The darkness surrounding it disappeared leaving only a sleeping man left.

"Naruto-kun meet your new guardian. His name is Namikaze Minato." And with that they left the Shinigami's stomach.

**Back to the Shinigami's realm**

The Shinigami smirked.

'This boy earned it. He will become powerful, I can tell. I hope the fates will be good to him as they've screwed him over till now.'

His thought ended with the arrival of Naruto and Eva, the latter carrying an unconcious man over her shoulder.

"Good job young Naruto. You have passed my test and I shall keep my word." He raised his hand and Minato slowly opened his eyes.

Minato woke up and heard the words, "I shall send you home now, good luck with the rest of your life", coming from a deep booming voice.

'The Shinigami?! What happened, the last thing I remembered was sealing the kyuubi.' He was suddenly knocked out by Eva. Naruto didn't even notice.

'Let it be a suprise for him.'

Eva opened a portal and gestured for Naruto to enter. She followed him still carrying Minato.

They arrived back at the apartment.

"Naruto, you will be able to call Minato out of your mind by saying or thinking his name. You will be the only person capable of seeing him. There is a way to give him a solid body, but it will be awhile before you figure it out. I wish you a good evening." She put Naruto's spirit back inside his body and Minato's spirit followed.

'I hope Namikaze-san will enjoy sharing a room with the fox.' Eva smirked lightly at the thought before leaving to attend to other business.'

Naruto slept peacefully oblivious to the fact that starting tomorrow his whole life would be changed for the better.


	2. Naruto's New Guardian

**A.N. Okay! Here's the next chapter! Also I want to thank everyone for the reviews! Constructive critisim is always welcome. TK Grimm pointed out that the last chapter was a little rushed and I know it was, but that was really just the prolouge and I want to move to story along. I promise to try and make my chapters more detailed from now on! **

Naruto awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and noises coming from the villagers outside who were in the middle of their morning routines. Last nights events seemed unreal to him, causing him to think it was simply a dream.

'Man, what a crazy dream. But I can't help but wonder how I came up with those names. Dreams are supposed to be based on things that you have experienced sometime in your life, but I'm positive I've never heard the name Namikaze Minato.' Unknown to him, when he said that name it activated the seal on his stomach causing it to glow and emanate a warm feeling.

'Nani?! What's happening to me!'

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 5 minutes earlier in the seal xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Namikaze Minato had been hailed as a genius back when he was still alive. He turned the tides of the 3rd Great Shinobi War in Konoha's favor, using his infamous technique, the Hiraishin. Not only that, but he also created the rasengan and was an accomplished seal master. After being chosen as the Yondaime things were looking up for Konoha. However, the kyuubi attack ruined that good, hopeful feeling.

Not many had known Minato married Uzumaki Kushina just before he was chosen to be Hokage. Minato hadn't wanted to put his wife in danger despite her protests of being able to take care of herself. They had been in love, and that love increased 10 fold, when they found out Kushina was pregnant. Never had he been as happy as he was the day she told him the good news. Minato and Kushina had decided to name their boy Naruto, after inspiration came from Jiraiya's first, and only non explicit, book. When the kyuubi attacked, Minato worked as hard as he could trying to find a way to defeat the kyuubi without having to make a jinchuuriki. When Kushina went into labor, his nerves increased and he finally came to the conclusion that there was no other way. He knew he would have to make his son the jailor of the great kitsune. And he also knew that he would have to grow up without a father. Minato was sure that Kushina would be able to care for him, and that the villagers would treat him as a hero. He put so much faith in them, it was too bad he was wrong.

When he heard his wife had died due to birth complications, his heart broke in two. But, he knew he had to go on with the sealing and with a few sorrowful farewells, he had passed on, swallowed by the Shinigami.

So, it was only natural that he was curious as to why he was once again alive and in a sewer no less! When Minato had awoken, he was in a large sewer with tons of corridoors. The place gave off an eeire feeling, like something big and powerful was waiting just around the corner. And he was right! After choosing a random corridoor and walking through it, he soon found a giant cage.

"What's this for.... Wait a minute, that's the seal!!! This is where the kyuubi is! But then that means..." Minato slowly realized where exactly he was.

**"That is correct human, you are inside your son's mindscape. Strange isn't it?" **the demonic voice startled the poor man out of his thoughts and when he looked up in to those giant slitted eyes for the second time in his life, he couldn't help, but be a little scared.

"Kyuubi! Why am I here?"

**"You expect me to know. Ha, I may have existed for thousands of years, but after being sealed in here for five years I've had no knowledge of the outside world. But if I had to guess, I'd say the Shinigami has taken a liking to your son, and has decided to grant him a gift, you."**

Minato's cerulean blue eyes widened. Was it possible for the Shinigami to free him. Well, he is the Shinigami after all, but still! I would never have guessed that he would show compassion.

As if guessing his thoughts the kyuubi decided to enlighten him.

**"Your son has suffered much through the years he has lived, but his heart has managed to stay pure and true. The Shinigami was probably impressed by this and decided to help the boy out. And the gods are always bored and meddling with human affairs tends to be a hobby of theirs."**

'Naruto has been suffering? But why? I suppose I'll figure it out in time.'

"I see. Well do have any idea as to how I can get to the outside world?"

**"I believe only your son has the power to call you out."**

"Oh, I see. As much as I'd like to continue learning about my son, I have to know. Why are you being so nice? I mean don't you despise all humans and on top of that, I'm the one who sealed you in here!"

**"I was being controlled when I attacked your village and I understand your reason for sealing me. It was my fault for allowing myself to be controlled anyway and besides, I find your strong desire to protect your village admirable. Despite the fact that they're all a bunch of assholes that is."**

"What are you...." Before he could finished Minato heard his name spoken and was suddenly pulled from the seal.

**"Have fun with your kid, Yondaime."** The kyuubi chuckled.

**'Having another person here will certainly provide entertainment for me. I hope the Shinigami's satisfied, cause the kit will never be the same again after this.' **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Real World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

As the light slowly faded and the warm feeling stopped, Naruto opened his eyes. He blinked once, then twice.

'Okay now I know something's definitley wrong with me. There's no way a person just came out of my stomach!' Naruto was currently staring at the translucent man in front of him.

Minato was just as startled as Naruto, however he understood the situation more. Staring in to the eyes of his son after so many years, Minato decided the best way to start, would be to introduce himself.

"Hi, my names Minato your Naruto right?" Naruto didn't know why, but that voice soothed him. It was the first time he had heard the man speak and yet the sound of his voice made Naruto feel good, kind of secure. Almost like nothing bad could ever happen to him in the presence of this man. Naruto shook off the strange thoughts.

'I'm thinking to seriously. Now I can finally get to know Minato!'

"Yeah, I am. Wait was that dream real! Are you Namikaze Minato my guardian?!" Naruto was excited now. He finally had a friend to hang out with and talk to! And to top it off he looked cool too!

'I wonder if I could get one of those awesome cloaks! But maybe in black and orange instead, since orange is my favorite color...' His thought rambled on and on about how to look cool like Minato.

Minato chuckled in amusement. 'He has my looks, but Kushina's personality is definitley a dominate trait in our son.' The thought of his deceased wife made his heart pang, but he cheered himself up knowing he could finally take care of their son.

'Kushina would want me to help Naruto. I think I'll pretend I don't know him for a while. I'll tell him about the Kyuubi and my identity as his father and a Hokage eventually.'

"Yeah, I guess I am your guardian. So ummm, how old are you?"

"I just turned five yesterday! What about you?" Naruto looked up at him with genuine curiousity in his innocent blue eyes that mirrored Minato's own.

"Well when I died I was twenty two, but I guess I'm twenty seven now in real years." Thinking about his death made Minato feel weird, so he decided to change the subject.

"Hey Naruto, do you want to be a shinobi?"

"Of course! I want to be the best Hokage ever surpassing even the fourth!" Naruto jumped around excitedly, no one had ever wanted to know about him before.

Minato lightly chuckled. 'I wonder what he would do if he found out his father was the fourth. He's so innocent it's cute.' Minato resisted the urge to ruffel Naruto's hair. 'Maybe someday, if I get a real body. But it's so hard not to! I guess I'll have to settle for encouraging him instead.'

"That's great. The path to becoming a Hokage is long and hard, but if you keep going no matter what, I'm sure you can become Hokage one day."

"Really! Thanks Minato!" Naruto smiled and hugged the former Hokage or at least tried to, unfortunately Naruto forgot about the fact that he didn't have a real body and passed right through him and fell to the floor. He got back up again and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck for a few seconds before running to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Minato smiled widley, 'Looks like he did pick up some of my habits after all. I can't wait to train him. I'll teach him the rasengan, my family taijutsu and kenjutsu style, and maybe even the Hiraishin! Yes, training my son will definitley be fun.' With that thought Minato walked over to the kitchen to talk with Naruto some more.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 3 years Later xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

After the discovery of his guardian being real, Naruto felt a joy he had never experienced before. The first couple of weeks were just Minato and Naruto talking and getting to know each other. It was only when Naruto went shopping, that Minato discovered Naruto's mistreatment. He saw the glares and mean words thrown at Naruto and was both furious and confused. Naruto was thrown out of every store except one, and even there they greatly overcharged him. Minato could do nothing but watch in anger. When he asked Naruto about this, he simply told him that this happened all the time. This only served to further increase the former Yondaime's anger. Minato eventually stopped being angry, and instead started feeling guilty. He helped Naruto as much as he could by telling him about some hiding places to go whenever the villagers tried to attack him.

Even after three years, he still hadn't told Naruto about the kyuubi or him being his father, for he felt Naruto was to young. However, he did tell Naruto about him being the Yondaime.

**Flashback (1 year ago)**

_Naruto was curious about Minato. Over the past two years he had become more observant and hadn't failed to notice Konoha headband on Minato's head. He decided to ask him about it._

_"Ne, ne Minato you were a shinobi right? Can you tell me about your life in Konoha?"_

_Minato looked suprised at the question and didn't exactly know what to say._

_'Should I tell him now? I guess it's a good time.' And with that Minato told Naruto about his life in Konoha._

_"The Namikaze family wasn't a well-known clan like the Uchiha or Hyuuga. We didn't have a bloodline and all the shinobi that came from our family were average. I'm the one who changed that. When I was young and in the academy, I was the dead-last. Nobody thought I would amount to anything. In the end I graduated and was put on a genin team under Jiraiya of the Sannin. Under his teachings I learned a lot. Soon, I rised in the ranks until I finally made jounin. Around the time I became a jounin the 3rd Great Shinobi War broke out. I used my newly invented technique, the Hiraishin, and some said it was because of me that Konoha won. I don't believe this as so many others helped. During the war I was named Konoha's Yellow Flash, because whenever I used the Hiraishin, all you would see was a flash of yellow before you were dead. When the war ended Konoha was finally at peace. The Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen, decided to choose a successor. Everyone thought it would be his genius student, Orochimaru, who would take the title of Yondaime Hokage, however, he actually ended up choosing me."_

_Minato took a break to allow Naruto to digest all this information._

_"You mean... your the Yondaime! Sugoi! All this time I've been friends with the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruto started jumping around excitedly until he realized something._

_"Demo, you died defeating the kyuubi right. That's why everyone is always so happy and sad on October 10th." Naruto looked up at Minato with sad eyes. "I'm sorry you died, you had people you loved here right?"_

_"Yeah, but I'm lucky. The only people I haven't gotten to see yet are Tsunade and Jiraiya, but I'll see them in time. If it weren't for you, I'd still be stuck in the Shinigami's stomach. Arigatou, Naruto." Minato smiled down at the young boy._

_Naruto blushed at the praise. "I-it was nothing. I'm just happy that you got to see your precious people!" Naruto's face broke out into a smile. _

_"Hey Minato?" Naruto asked nervously._

_"Yes Naruto?" Minato was curious about why he looked so shy. 'I wonder what he's gonna ask?'_

_"Since you were the Hokage and all... umm... WILL YOU TRAIN ME!?" Naruto suddenly blurted out. He proceeded to blush and mumble an apology under his breath._

_"Of course, I was planning to anyway, but your still a little too young, so I'll wait until you start in the academy." 'That's all he wanted to ask. Well I guess now that he knows who I am, he'd be a little shy.'_

_"Arigatou, Minato!" Naruto ran out of his room happily. 'I'm gonna be trained by the greatest Hokage!' _

_Minato chuckled. 'I guess any kid would act like that if they found out they would be trained by a Hokage.'_

**End Flashback**

Naruto was now eight years old, and it was his first day going to the academy. While he hadn't been trained in the shinobi arts, Minato made sure to teach him how to read and write. After getting permisson from the Sandaime or as Naruto calls him 'Oji-san' (Minato had laughed quite hard about this when he first heard Naruto speak to the man) to have full access to the library Naruto studied all the History of Konoha, its major clans and their bloodlines, and some battle tactics. Naruto's knowledge had greatly improved and Minato was immensley proud of his son.

At first Naruto had been nervous about going to the academy, but after being reassured by Minato and a cup of ramen, he was ready to go.

"Alright Naruto, I'll go with you since it would be boring staying here or inside your stomach. Oh, and remember after school I'll be starting your training!"

"Yatta!" Naruto ran off towards the academy, with Minato following behind him. Naruto easily ignored the glares now that he had a friend, but Minato still couldn't get over the fact that his village would treat his son and their hero so badly.

'I suppose they need a scapegoat, but why does it have to be this poor boy?' They soon reached the academy and after a couple of glares from the secretary, they were on their way to Naruto's classroom.

**(Please note that in this fic Naruto won't fail 2 times and he will be in Iruka's class with all the rookie 9 from the start)**

When Naruto walked in he immediatley noticed a bunch of unique individuals. First there were the two loud girls fighting over what appeared to be the dark haired boy sitting in a desk next to them. One was blond and the other had pink hair. Then there was the quiet little girl with pale white eyes shyly looking down at her desk. Next to her were a fat boy eating chips and a boy with hair like a pineapple who was asleep. Finally there was a boy with a dog on his head sitting next to a mysterious looking boy with sunglasses and a coat covering most of his face.

"Okay Naruto, for your first lesson, identify the clans those kids are from." Naruto couldn't talk out loud to Minato since if he did either his secret would be discovered or people would think him crazy. However, they had discovered they have a mental link so Minato could talk out loud and Naruto could answer by thinking in his mind. Of course Naruto didn't want Minato reading all his thoughts, so he figured out how to turn the link on and off.

'Let's see, the blonde is definitley a Yamanaka, the pink haired girl is probably from a civilian family, and judging from the arrogance radiating off of the boy, he's an Uchiha.' Minato laughed at that as he too had a dislike for the Uchiha clan. Well, all except for Obito of course, seeing how he was completley different compared to his relatives.

'The pale-eyed girl is obviously a Hyuuga, the boy eating is an Akimichi no doubt, and the boy sleeping is a Nara for sure. Finally, the kid with the dog is an Inuzuka and most likely the secretive boy is an Aburame.'

"Good job Naruto! Your studies are definitley paying off." Naruto smiled at the praise. At first he had been unfamiliar with that good feeling of doing something right and being praised for it, but over the years he had gotten used to it from Minato and relished in those types of moments they had together.

'I wonder if that's how a father and son relationship feels...' **(note that Naruto has turned off the mental connection by now)**

Unknown to Naruto, the relationship between them was steadily growing into something way bigger than friendship.

Naruto settled for a seat next to the Nara. Soon enough a man with spiky hair in a ponytail and a scar across his nose walked into the room.

"Settle down please. Welcome to the shinobi academy, I'm Iruka and I'll be your sensei for the next four years." The man continued his speech oblivious to the fact that Naruto had tuned him out after the first sentence and settled for playing a mental game of shogi with Minato using the mental link.

Naruto sighed when Minato won. He was a Hokage after all.

'I'll beat him one day.' 'Sigh' 'It's gonna be a long year.'


	3. Training with Dad

**A.N. Here's chapter 3! Thanks for all the reviews also, they really motivated me to write more!**

Naruto was finally let out of class. Though his classmates were certainly interesting and the teacher was actually nice, all the things they covered he already knew due to his studies with Minato. Naruto and Minato were currently walking to the Namikaze Manor. Minato wanted to use the private training grounds. Naruto had never been their and was curious to see his best friend's old home.

When they reached the front gates, Naruto saw the blood seal.

"Hey Minato, how are we gonna get in? You don't have a solid body, so you can't have any blood."

"Don't worry Naruto, I made a different entrance while I was alive so that Jiraiya could come in without me having to let him in.

'Though he did end up abusing that privlege by using it to sneak in and put those perverted books on my bookshelf. Kushina ended up pounding me when she saw them there.' Minato winced remembering that moment, it had been both embarrassing and painful.

Minato headed towards the other hidden entrance with Naruto following. The manor was in a seperate, more secluded part of the village near the woods so nobody saw them. Minato instructed Naruto to place his hands on the seal and told him to say the word ramen.

"Ramen?! Sure it's an awesome food, but why ramen?" Naruto looked up at him with an incredlous look on his face.

Minato shrugged. "I had to come up with a password and at the time I was thinking about ramen." 'Now that I think about it, ramen as a password is kind of stupid.'

Naruto accepted this answer and proceeded with opening the gate.

When they got to the house, they walked through it (Naruto running around and looking at everything in amazement) and eventually made it to the training ground outside.

It was a quiet peaceful area with plenty of trees, a small lake, targets for shruiken and kunai, and an open space that was perfect for sparring.

"This place is amazing! So, what are you going to teach me?" Naruto looked up at Minato with an eager face.

"Today will simply be focused on building strength, speed, and endurance. I'll be teaching you my taijutsu style, which requires lots of speed and fluidity. Things will seem slow at first, but with time you'll see how much these things can help you on the field."

Minato had expected Naruto to be upset and a little frustrated that he wasn't learning any cool jutsus. After all, that's what all kids usually did. But Naruto suprised him by showing determinaton and eagerness to start training.

"I know that everyone has to get the basics down first. Taijutsu will be the skill I need most in the field."

Minato was suprised, but curious about his reasoning. "Why do you think that?"

"Because, if you run out of chakra, taijutsu is the only thing you can use. In other words, if your jutsu or genjutsu fail and you're out of chakra and you aren't good in taijutus, then your battle is already lost."

Minato smiled warmly and looked down at his son with pride. 'That's my boy.'

"Your right Naruto. You never fail to impress me." Naruto beamed at the praise.

Just like Minato said, the rest of the day was spent running, lifting weights, stretching, and learning the fighting stance of the Namikaze taijutsu the Kaze Naminori(1) style. Minato had explained that he himself came up with the style, and was the first and only Namikaze to use it. He purposely failed to mention that Naruto would be the second Namikaze.

The Kaze Naminori style used speedy and fluid attacks to catch the oppenent off guard. Minato had been sure to include plenty of defensive and offensive attacks along with some very unique counterattacks into it.

When Naruto was finally finished for the day he was sweating and panting like crazy, but at the same time happy.

'I'm getting closer to becoming the Hokage by doing these exercises.'

Minato noticed that Naruto was way too tired to walk home and decided to let him stay in the manor.

'Let him sleep in a real bed for once.' He thought angerly.

"Hey Naruto, why don't you sleep here tonight. I have plenty of guest rooms." Naruto looked suprised at the request, but quickly agreed.

They walked inside and up to the second floor. Minato let Naruto look through the rooms to see which one he would want. Naruto soon came across a small, buy cozy room. Inside was a tiny bed, that looked like it was for someone in their younger years, perfect for him. The walls were a pale orange. On the floor was an orange carpet. There was also a small bookshelf, and what looked to be a corner with a bunch of untouched toys obviously for a baby.

"Hey Minato, why do you have a room like this?" Minato paled at that question. This was supposed to be Naruto's room when he was born. Kushina had picked out the wall and carpet color since orange was her favorite color. Thinking of his wife made him sad, so he quickly snapped back to reality and answered Naruto as truthfully as he could.

"Not many knew this, but I had a wife during my days as the Yondaime. She had been pregnant with a baby boy, my child." Naruto's eyes widened at this and Minato decided to continue.

"This was supposed to be his room, but when I died the day of the kyuubi attack, my wife had been in labor, and due to the kyuubi's chakra and killing intent, going through child birth was much harder than usual and she died. I never knew what happened to my son."

Naruto looked up him with sad eyes.

'I wish I could hug Minato. He's been through so much, losing his wife and his own life on the same day.'

"Oh, I'm sorry! I won't stay in this room then, it'll probably bring back to many bad memories." Minato looked at him with suprised and hurt eyes, startling Naruto.

"No! Please sleep in here. Naruto, seeing you and spending time with you, makes me feel so happy. I see you as my own son, and I feel that you should have this room."

"But...I'm not you're son! If I sleep here, then I'll feel like I'm dishonoring him!" Naruto didn't like taking what wasn't his and knowing that Minato had a son that was probably all alone and scared while he got to spend time with him, made him feel guilty and sad.

At Naruto's outburst Minato forgot all about keeping the secret of Naruto's heritage and what was sealed inside him. He lost it and, because of that didn't realize what he was about to say.

"YOU DO DESERVE THIS! YOU'RE MY SON! I'm a terrible father anyway, I sealed the kyuubi into you and left you here for dead, in this terrible village, with its terrible people. I was foolish to believe they would treat you as a hero, and because of my mistake, you have to suffer! I deserve to be hated by you, but you can't once think that you don't deserve a good home or a family!" Minato rambled on and on about how he deserved punishment and how he was so sorry to Naruto.

Naruto meanwhile was stunned and still trying to process what Minato had told him. His eight year old mind couldn't seem to grasp the fact that Minato was his father, the YONDAIME was his father, and that he had sealed the kyuubi into him. 'I don't believe this. I have a father, and he loves me...and the villagers don't hate me! They hate the demon stuck in my gut!' A smile slowly spread on Naruto's face and once again forgetting the fact that Minato was a spirit ran to hug him and, once again, he fell to the ground.

Minato was stunned. His son still loved him, his son didn't care that he had done such terrible things and was the reason for his mistreatment.

"Naruto...." Naruto got up off the ground still smiling. 'My son...has such a good heart. How could anyone ever possibly hate him.' Minato smiled softly.

"Tou-san..." Minato's heart sped up at the sound of Naruto calling him dad.

"I love you tou-san." Minato gestured for Naruto to follow him into the room. Naruto layed on the bed and pulled the covers over himself. Minato leaned over him and whispered into his ear.

"I love you too, Naruto." And with the presence of his father watching over him, Naruto fell asleep happy and finally feeling loved. Minato smiled and continued to watch his son sleep, until he left for his personal (and enormous) library to think up what to do for Naruto's training.

'He'll be a great shinobi, that boy, and a wonderful Hokage too.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**Time Skip 4 years**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After that night where everything changed, Minato and Naruto's realtionship steadily increased to that of a father and son. The schedule continued to be quite the same. They would go to the academy and as soon as it let out, the would head over to the Namikaze Manor for training. Naruto had moved out of his crummy apartment and moved into the manor. Now that he knew he was a Namikaze, he used the blood seal on the front gate. No one knew that he had moved in due to his stealthy skills of avoiding people. Naruto still had meetings with the sandaime quite frequently and went to Ichiraku's at least twice a week. Minto had forced him to eat healthier once they started training, but Naruto only complained a little, he was just happy that his dad cared so much for him.

Minato had made sure to keep Naruto's progress in training steady. He didn't want him to go crazy with power like Uchiha Itachi, though he was suspicious that the young prodigy was ordered to massacre his clan.

Naruto was taking the graduation exam today, though he was going to fail on purpose. Naruto and Minato were both suspicous of Mizuki and they decided Naruto should fail on purpose since that was obviously what the chunnin instructor wanted.

Naruto had almost completley mastered the Kaze Naminori style. In another year he will have mastered it. Naruto's jutsu arsenal was as big as a mid to high chuunin's, however he made sure to make the most of them and was constantly finding ways to improve his jutsu. Naruto knew kage bunshin and the special training trick that came with them, but rarley used it. He wanted to improve without shortcuts, something Minato was proud of. Minato was in the process of teaching his son the rasengan, they were now on stage three. It had only been a week to Minato's suprise, and seeing his son catch on to it so quickly only further increased his pride.

Naruto at first had had terrible chakra control, but over time he learned to improve it. Though he wasn't very good at genjutsu and most of them required to much control for him to achieve, Naruto did know a few D and C ranked ones, and also was a master at dispelling them. Minato had also taught him how to fight against Uchihas and Hyuugas.

Minato had only recently started training Naruto in kenjutsu, but already Naruto was catching on. He was a natural with the katana and all weapons in general. He had perfect aim, and knew how to manipulate chakra to increase the sharpness of his weapons. Minato had recently given Naruto his own katana that had been custom made for himself when he was a jounin. Naruto loved it and had taken to carrying it everywhere he went in a storage scroll.

When Minato had discovered that Naruto had taken a great interest in sealing, he was very excited. He began teaching his son the basics, and now Naruto could make storage seals and explosive seals. Minato planned to teach Naruto more so he could become a seal master like himself, but put a halt on the fuinjutsu training stating that Naruto should perfect his other shinobi skills to the max and that when he felt he was at jounin level, he would start teaching Naruto the more advanced seals.

Naruto's stealth was amazing even without training. Now that Minato had taught him, Naruto had the stealth skills of a veteran Anbu. Minato knew he would make the perfect assassin when he grew up. Overall Naruto was mid to high chunnin level in skill. And Minato knew that when he was placed on a team, and had another sensei to teach him, Naruto could very well become high jounin level in only a couple of years.

Minato knew how team placement worked and told Naruto to hold back in the academy. Naruto understood his reasoning and agreed. Officially Naruto was the dead last of the academy, however, unofficially he was the strongest academy student and would soon be the strongest genin. Minato knew that since Naruto was aware of how to fight Hyuugas that he could easily defeat the Hyuuga prodigy Hyuuga Neji.

Though most of their time was spent training, Minato did tell Naruto about plenty of stories from his past. He told of how he and Kushina met and what she was like. Naruto was ecstatic when his father told him he was just like his mother. Minato also told of team seven's funny adventures and interactions, and about the heroic death of Obito and how Kakashi got the sharingan eye. Naruto, being the smart boy he was, told Minato that he thought Kakashi would be his sensei.

**_Flashback_**

_"Ne tou-san." _

_"Yes Naruto?"_

_"I think your old student Kakashi will be my sensei." Minato looked suprised and curious about his son's predictment._

_"Why do you think that?"_

_"Well, you told me the dead last is always paired with the rookie of the year and this year the rookie is Sasuke. Since Kakashi is the only remaining sharingan user, the council will probably make him Sasuke's sensei."_

_Minato's face lite up with realization. _

_"You're right! Wow, that's cool. I haven't seen Kakashi yet, but it will be fun to see how much he's changed. I just can't believe he'd leave the Anbu. Then again, that old geezer Sarutobi probably forced him out of it knowing him."_

_Naruto laughed at the old geezer comment and they continued training._

**_End Flashback_**

Today was finally the day of the genin exams and Naruto was excited, though for different reasons than most of the other children. While most of the students were excited to become shinobi and kunoichi Naruto knew about the D rank missions and was aware of the fact that most of these students wouldn't even pass the real exams. He wasn't worried because he knew that the council would never allow their precious Uchiha to fail. Naruto was excited because he would no longer have to sit through the boring lessons on things he learned about years ago and pretend not to understand it.

Naruto was currently sitting at his desk with Minato next to him, waiting for his name to be called. Around him were a bunch of smiling and squealing students happy about how they 'passed' and were becoming shinobi.

'If only they knew...' Naruto smirked mentally and continued his mental conversation with Minato.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He stood up and walked over to the examinaton room.

'Well, here it goes.'

**(1) Wind Surfing- Minato's taijutsu style. I couldn't think of a really good name so I just named it this.**

**A.N. I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try and update soon! (hint: I update faster when people review!) Ja ne!**


	4. Team 7

**A.N. Hey I'm finally back! I know its been a long time since I've updated so I wanted to apoligize. For those of you who might have thought I abandoned this story don't worry! I'm just really lazy and don't feel like typing a lot. I know the feeling of really liking a fic and then having a note posted saying that it's abandoned or on hiatus. Also I realize that some people are suggesting pairings for this story. In this fic I'm trying to focus more on the father son relationship than romance. Really the only girl that I like paired with Naruto is Hinata, but I don't want to put them together and have someone stop reading because they don't like the pairing. There might be some very subtle hints of romance, but that will be all. Sorry to disappoint! Ok on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't (and never will) own Naruto!**

The test was very simple. Then again for Naruto the academy three weren't exactly challenging material. As planned, Naruto failed. Both blondes didn't fail to notice the pleased smirk on Mizuki's face when the words of rejection left Iruka's mouth.

When Naruto walked outside, he sat down on the wooden swing and pretended to look sad. Mizuki took the bait and walked over. Naruto smirked inwardly at his success and at the stupidity of Mizuki.

Mizuki stopped in front of Naruto and began to speak to him. "Hey Naruto, I know you must be upset. I'm really sorry that Iruka had to fail you." His voice sounded truly sorrowful, but his eyes showed his true intentions. "It's okay sensei, maybe next year I'll pass." Naruto's face looked depressed and disappointed.

Meanwhile, as Mizuki told the boy of the second test, Minato was laughing from inside the seal. 'Who knew my son was such an amazing actor. There's no doubt that he's Kushina's son. She would have loved this.' He smiled sadly and continued to watch the scene, until the treacherous sensei left.

That night, Naruto used his stealth skills to retrieve the forbidden scroll. Stealing the scroll was an easy task for him.

'Wow, they really need to increase security in the Hokage Tower. Man, any random evil orginization could just waltz right in, assassinate the Hokage, and steal all of the scrolls locked in the tower.' **(coughakatsukicough) **

'I know what you mean. How could I have not noticed this before?!' Minato agreed.

Naruto ran with stunning speed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until he reached the forest where he settled down and opened the scroll. "I might as well use this opportunity to copy down some techniques to learn."

He ended up being fairly disappointed with the contents of the scroll. Nearly all of the jutsu were ones he already knew. However, he did find one useful mist jutsu that confused the senses of an enemy.**(I know that isn't really on the scroll but I put it there so he could learn it.) **It was only on there because of its high amount of chakra needed, but for a chakra monster like himself, it was no problem. Within one short hour he had mastered it.

"Maybe I can find a few ways to modify it later." He re-sealed the scroll and strapped it on to his back. Mizuki's chakra signature was coming closer.

Soon enough, the man himself came. "Good job Naruto! Now, give me the scroll." An evil glint was seen in his eyes. Slowly, he stepped forward. Suddenly, Iruka burst into the clearing.

"No Naruto! Don't give it to him, he tricked you!" Naruto feigned confusion and let out a "Huh?" Mizuki began to cackle evily (or as Naruto thought retardadly) and lunged for Naruto, who easily side-stepped causing Mizuki to fall to the ground.

"You brat! I'm gonna kill you!" He jumped back into a tree and took out a giant wind mill shruiken. "Mizuki no!" Iruka jumped in front of Naruto, taking the blow for him.

"Iruka-sensei! Why did you do that!" 'Shoot I was going to dodge that. I have to finish this quick so I can take him to the hospital.'

"Gomen, Mizuki, but this is going to hurt a lot." Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind Mizuki before a second even passed.

"How?" He gaped.

"There are quite a few things you don't know about me, sensei." He replied mockingly. And before Mizuki could even gasp, he was knocked into next week.

Mizuki's unconcious body fell to the ground and Iruka looked up at his student in shock.

"Naruto...." His wound was still bleeding.

"Hold on sensei." And with that, Naruto picked up his sensei and sprinted to the hospital. The anbu found Mizuki's body and took him to Ibiki to be interrogated.

"You did good, son." Minato praised his son.

"Ah, thanks dad." He beamed up at him in response.

**The Next day**

The next day, Naruto went to visit Iruka. When he got to his hospital room, Sarutobi was already there discussing something with Iruka.

"Oh, Naruto good to see you. You did a wonderful job taking out Mizuki." The old man smiled warmly down at the boy who looked so much like his successor and predecessor.

"Thanks oji-san! Ne, sensei how are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine Naruto. I should be let out tomorrow, just in time to announce team assignments. Speaking of which, the Hokage and I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Outwardly he was curious, but inwardly Naruto already had a good idea of what it was.

The Sandaime spoke up. "We have decided, that due to your excellent service, you are to be made an official shinobi of Konoha."

"Really?!" Excitement bubbled up inside the young blonde. 'No more academy!!!!'

"Yes, really Naruto. I want you to have this forehead protector." The old man held out a slightly worn one, with black cloth.

Minato's eyes widened in recognition, then softened as he smiled. 'The old man is giving him my old protector. The one I got when I was a genin.'

Naruto wondered why he wanted him to have that one specifically, but decided to accept it without question. He tied it under his bangs and fringe, making him the spitting image of his father.

Sarutobi nearly gasped out loud from the resemblance. Iruka smiled proudly and patted his student on the head. "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto." His eyes narrowed and his face twisted into a fake glare. "And you better not be late!"

Naruto smirked and made for the door. "Hai, hai, sensei." He lazily walked out.

Iruka's face dead-panned. "He's gonna be late."

The Sandaime chuckled and said his goodbyes. The sullen look on his face could mean he was only thinking about one thing. 'Back to paperwork. 'sigh' Why? Why am I always so tortured by those dreadful pieces of paper.'

**With Naruto and Minato**

The blonde duo walked back to the Namikaze Manor for more training.

"Hey Naruto, lets get back to work. You had the day off yesterday so your going to work twice as hard!" Minato looked quite eager to begin.

'How can he get so excited from training. My dad sure is strange.'

"Okay, let's start." Naruto's enthusiasim reached the point where you would think he was asleep if his eyes weren't open. Minato, oblivious to his son's level of excitement, kept up his cheery mood for the rest of the day.

"Today we're going to start using resistance and gravity seals in place of weights. It's time you got your speed up enough to match mine." Naruto's eyes widened.

His father had been one of, no, the fastest shinobi alive, before the kyuubi attack. Matching his speed would not be an easy feat.

"Are you sure I'll be able too?"

"Of course! You're my son after all. And, if you are able to aquire my speed, then I'll teach you the Hirashin." Minato smirked. 'This should motivate him.'

"The Hirashin! Okay, just you wait, I'll be twice as fast as you before the year ends! Yosh! Let's start!"

**Team Announcement Day**

Naruto arrived in class 5 minutes late, but luckily, Iruka hadn't yet arrived. He scanned the classroom and settled for the seat beside the Uchiha. Naruto had a strong dislike for Sasuke who had a ten inch stick shoved up his ass, but he could tolerate him because he understood why the Uchiha acted as he did.

Suddenly, his ears were violated by the screams of two annoying girls who could only be Sakura and Ino, Uchiha Sasukes number one fangirls. Naruto made to move so he wouldn't have to be subjected to their screams, but he was too late.

"NARUTO MOVE! I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled at him.

Naruto didn't want to have to get 'beaten up' (yeah right like she could actually beat him up) by her again so he left.

"Whatever, I don't care." He moved to sit by some random civilian shinobi-wannabe whose name he couldn't recall.

"NARUTO-BAKA I SAID MOVE...wait, did you actually move?" Naruto simply ignored her in favor of playing mental chess with his father.

Sakura and all the other fan girls were left there dumbfounded, until Iruka walked in and asked them to take their seats.

"Gomen, I'm late class. I got held up with some things." The next thirty minutes were filled with Iruka's speech about growing up and representing the village. Naruto listened this time, and found the speech to be very insightful, while the rest of the class nearly fell asleep. Finally, the time came for team assissignments.

**(Skipping teams 1-6) **"Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Team 8, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. Team 9 is still in circulation. And team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji. Please wait here until your assigned sensei comes to pick you up. Good luck to all of you."

Everyone's reactions varied. Sasuke was annoyed that he had to be with a fangirl and the dobe, Sakura was happy about Sasuke and mad about Naruto, and Naruto didn't care because he already knew they would be his teammates, though he wasn't happy they were.

'All that's left now is for Hatake to show up. Though from what you tell me tou-san, he'll probably be late.'

'Ah, ever since Obito died, he's taken after him, so no doubt he'll be late for meeting his genin team, which is probably unimportant to him.'

Soon enough everyone except poor team 7 was gone.

**A.N. Okay there's chapter 4! My story is now officially over 10,000 words! I'll update sometime later! Ja ne! :)**


	5. Introductions

**A.N. Okay, I'm really sorry about not updating since, well who knows how long! I'm a little busy with other stuff but that's not really an excuse. I think I've just sort of lost my Naruto muse. But don't worry, I'm not giving up on this story. There are too many awesome people reviewing and reading my story for me to let anyone down. So, here's the next chapter of the Shinigami's Gift! (Sorry if it's not that good but I haven't written for awhile)**

In Naruto's mind, Hatake Kakashi was a strong, alert veteran ninja who was always on his guard. At least, from the stories his father had told him he was. So when that very same Hatake Kakashi walked through the doors to the classroom, Naruto was stunned into silence for the first time in four years. The man before him was laid back and looked incredibly lazy. In fact, he seemed bored just standing there.

However Naruto's surprise faded when he realized what the former ANBU was doing. He could tell that beneath the relaxed posture, Kakashi was ready to move at a seconds glance. He obviously hadn't been an ANBU captain for nothing.

"Yo, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm your new sensei. Follow me to the roof." And with that, he disappeared from the room in a 'poof'.

'Jounin bastards. Just what makes him think he can be late? I'll get him back for this later." Already Naruto was thinking up pranks in his mind.

'Oh dear, I hope Kakashi doesn't get hurt too badly.' Minato recognized the look on his son's face and knew what would become of poor Kakashi's fate.

Slowly, Naruto got up and walked out the door. He would have used shunshin or walked up the wall, but Sasuke and Sakura were there and he didn't want them to know his secret. All three climbed the stairs and sat down on the roof in front of their new sensei, with Minato standing behind Naruto.

"Well, I do believe introductions are in order. We'll start with.....you." He indicated at Sakura.

"Ano, sensei, what should I say?"

"Your name, hobbies, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, whatever you want to really." She nodded feverently and began to talk.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. My hobbies are competing with Ino-pig and talking with Sasuke -insert dreamy look-." Sasuke discreetly rolled his eyes at this.

'Since when do I talk with her.'

"Um, I like -looks pointedly at the Uchiha- and I dislike Ino-pig and Naruto-baka." After saying this she turned to glare at the boy himself.

'Oh please, it's not like I actually enjoy your comany either.' When Naruto had first started school, he saw Sakura and thought she was beautiful. He asked her out multiple times and each time she turned him down calling him a baka or some other mean name. Naruto quickly got over her after seeing what she was truly like, but Sakura's dislike for him was still there.

Kakashi seemingly ignored her statement and pointed at Sasuke. "You next."

"Hn, my name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't really like anything and dislike a lot of things. My main hobby is training. I do not have a dream, but an ambition. That is to kill a certain man." Kakashi, Minato, and Naruto showed a light flash of worry and concern in there eyes before it disappeared. Sakura only continued to fawn over the Uchiha.

'Tou-san, this looks to be getting more serious. If this keeps up, in a few years Sasuke will be willing to do anything for power.' When Naruto had first met Sasuke, he had been quite normal. However, after the massacre he noticed the change. He and Minato had listened around Konoha for gossip and had discovered what had happened. Minato came up with the theory that Itachi had been ordered to kill his clan, and Naruto agreed. He had met Itachi once before, and though the brilliant Uchiha had been cold, kindness had shown through in his eyes. Itachi had clearly held a great love for his brother.

"You are right. For now there is nothing we can do. Let's see how this plays out for awhile, and we'll make a plan later." Naruto lightly nodded his head to show he agreed.

"Okay, you're last." Naruto looked up at his sensei and smirked.

"Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! My hobbies are eating ramen and pranking people. I like pretty much everything except perverts and boring people! My dream is to gain the respect of everyone in this village and to become Hokage to protect them!" The enthusiasm looked to be lost on everyone with the exception of Minato, but inside his mind Kakashi was thinking.

'Hmm, interesting. This boy has a very formidable dream, to want to protect everyone. As the Sandaime would say he carries the Will of Fire in him. I suppose I'll just have to see how this team does in their test. Speaking of which, time to break the news.' Kakashi smirked lightly underneath his mask.

"Well, now that we've all introduced ourselves-"

"But wait sensei! You have to tell us about yourself!" Kakashi looked a little peeved about being interrupted, but he put on a fake smile.

"Oh right. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your concern and I don't have any hobbies. As for my dream for the future....well you wouldn't really understand." His eye curved into a light smile.

Meanwhile, his students looked exasperated with his respone. But, they knew that that was the only information he would give them, so they each sat quietly and waited for further instruction.

"I believe now would be a good time to tell you that you're not officially genin."

"NANI? How could that be, don't you see our forehead protecters? They're a sign that proves we are official shinobi of Konoha!" Sakura belt out with a look of utter disbelief and frustration on her face.

"Yes well, the academy test was only to sort out the completely incompetent from those who might stand a chance at being a shinobi. You will all have to take a test issued by me. If you pass, you will be an official shinobi, but if you don't, you will be sent back to the academy for another year." Kakashi calmly explained the situation, but inwardly laughed at their expressions. Sakura looked heart-broken and incredulous. She was gaping like a fish. Sasuke looked frustrated but also confident. Naruto had a look of surprise on his face that seemed ungenuine.

'I might just have to look into that boy. He seems like he's hiding something.' He gazed contemplatively at the young blond.

'Uh oh, looks like he's suspicious. I wonder what led him on?' Naruto was clearly worried.

Minato was bemused. "Hmm, maybe it was your horrible acting skills."

'How could you say that? My acting skills are awesome! I could easily be an actor if I wasn't going to be Hokage.' Naruto smirked at the thought of him being an actor.

"Oh you're right. But you should know that you inherited those awesome skills from me." Naruto's smirk changed to a pout after discovering that his father was teasing him. Minato just started chuckling.

It was then that Naruto decided to tune back in to what his new sensei was telling them.

"Your test will be held at Training Field 7. Be there at 6 oclock AM sharp. Oh, and I would suggest that you don't eat any breakfast." With those words said he once again disappeared with a 'poof'.

Sakura stood up grumbling about something under her breath. She was so angry that she forgot to start fawning over Sasuke and left by herself. Sasuke followed, but made sure to keep his distance from her incase she remembered.

When Naruto was sure they were both gone, he stood up and shunshined back to the Namikaze Manor with Minato next to him.

"What Kakashi-sensei said doesn't make sense. Why should we not eat? We'll need to eat food so we can have energy for the test."

"Well, he only said it was a suggestion. You do what you think is right." Minato told his opinion.

"Ah, you're right. I'll eat and bring some extra food incase Sasuke and Sakura want some." They both went to the private training grounds to start Naruto's daily routine.

Naruto thought one last thought before he completely focused on his training. 'Tomorrow's going to be interesting, to say the least.'


End file.
